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First let me say that I have enjoyed browsing this site for the past several days and found the information to be amazing. I am new to beekeeping, although vaguely familiar with some of it due to my curiousity and hope to get involved with it. Anyway, I captured a swarm, installed it in a Lang style hive. They stuck around for 2 days then left. I haven't found them. In the process, I built a TBH (had a blast building it). Now I have a TBH with no bees, I hope to get another swarm for it. My question is simply this: I don't like brood in my honey (my wife probably won't eat it if she knows there was brood in it) so does a TBH need an excluder? If an excluder will help, what size grid would I need? Could I use thin Plywood and build an excluder like a follower board? Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

If it's got brood in it, leave it. If it doesn't harvest it. I don't use an excluder in my TBH nor in my Langstroth hives.

If you REALLY want an excluder, you'll need to buy a metal one and cut it to fit. Excluders have to be VERY specific in size. You can make one out of #5 hardware cloth but the bees really have to squeeze to get through and can't get pollen a full load of pollen through it. The gap should be between 0.166 inches (4.22mm) and 0.172 inches(4.38mm).

Not being too familiar with TBHs, is it usual for the brood to be spread out or do they usually confine themselves to several bars only. If I forego the excluder, will I be lucky to get a bar or two with only honey, or will they accomodate my wife's preference naturally. If it matters, I have 28 bars in my hive. Thanks.

Bees in any hive with natural comb will keep the brood nest in one area. Bees in a hive with nothing but worker foundation will ocassionaly put some drone somewhere off in some other corner of the hive becuase of the drive to produce drones. These patches are sometimes in the supers.

All you have to do is leave any frames with brood and take the ones without.

Great, I'll do it that way then! BTW, I got a call today for another swarm! I went to pick it up, got it without a hitch. It was huge! I brought it home and put it in my TBH with some sugar syrup. Is there anything I should do to prevent them from leaving too? I'd hate to lose this swarm too. Two in one week would be heartbreaking! Thanks for all the help and info!

well, I hope they stay anyway. I don't have any swarm lure and probably couldn't get any before they decided to leave if they will. I did rub a lemon rind inside the hive - read somewhere that might help, so maybe they will stick around. Got another question though: When I hived them, I just took a couple of branches the swarm was on, cut them off, put them and the bees in a box and carried them home. I put the branches and all in the hive. All the bees left the box into the hive. Do I need to remove the branches now, or will they leave the branches to start building comb? I looked this AM and there was a cluster a little larger than a softball on one end of the first two bars and the rest were still on the limbs on the bottom. Is this something that needs to be dealt with now, or can I remove the branches when/if the rest of the bees move off of them? Thanks again for all the help.